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formed. The first group opposeses Hi and Mid
2
which share the high register feature to Mid
1
and Lo which share the low register feature. The second pairing is the Hi and Mid
1
which share the high melody feature and oppose the Mid
2
and Lo which share the low melody feature. In Chapter 5, we will see that the Hi and Mid
1
each occur as floating tones and that the Hi and Mid
2
can both be lowered when they occur after the floating Mid
1
. Interestingly, the Mid
1
and Mid
2
do not share any features in common, so we do not expect them to act together. Not surprisingly, the High and Low tones also share no common features and
therefore share no common behaviors.
4.2.2 Phonetic Realization of Tonemes
The phonetic realization of the tonemes is demonstrated in Figure 4-1 which shows a graphic representation of the level tones on a single syllable.
The y-axis is measured in semitones and represents the fundamental frequency of the tone in question. The x-axis reflects the duration of the
nucleus of the syllable and is measured in seconds.
Figure 4-1 Soyaltepec Mazatec tonemes
39 40
41 42
43 44
45 46
47 48
0.05 0.1
0.15 0.2
0.25
F u
n d
a m
e n
ta l
F re
q u
e n
cy
s e
m it
o n
e s
Time seconds
High Tone Mid-High Tone
Mid tone Low Tone
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The above chart demonstrates the relative level of each tone in the speech range of an individual as it occurs in isolation. The specific data used to create this chart is taken from a single speaker who is
purposefully enunciating. It reflects the average of six to eight utterances for each tone which have been normalized for duration using a program called COMP developed by Courtney Gillett. The slight jump in
the Low tone trace between 0.1 seconds and 0.15 seconds is an artifact resulting from the averaging of the tonal values some of which drop off at a faster rate than others. The pitch trace of a single Low tone would
be a smoother line. Notice that the relative distance between the four tones is not uniform. The High tone and Mid-High tone are much closer together than any of the other tones.
106
4.2.3 High tone – H
˥
The level High tone is common; multiple examples are readily found on every type of word form in Soyaltepec Mazatec from monosyllabic, monomorphemic words to multisyllabic, multimorphemic
words. It occurs at a fundamental frequency near the top of the speaker’s normal range Figure 4-1 and is either level or rises initially with a reduction in slope leveling out as the vowel progresses. The rate of
reduction in slope depends on the sonority of the preceding consonant; with the least sonorant onsets producing the most rapid reduction in slope. Phonologically, the High tone consists of a high tonal melody
H and a high tonal register h. An example representation appears in 2. 2
Phonological representation of ho˥ ‘two’
h Register
H Melody
TRN ho
TBU ‘two’
gloss
106
It is for this reason that I have chosen the four tone keys to represent these level tones as ˥, ˦, ˧ and ˩,
rather than four evenly spaced tone keys.
172
Examples of monosyllabic morphemes with level High tones appear in 3 and 4. The data is organized by onset type in order to demonstrate that the onset does not in any way influence or restrict the tones that
are possible on a syllable: 3 demonstrates simple onsets and 4 demonstrates complex onsets. In 3 the place of articulation is listed on the far left, followed by the manner.
3 High toned words with simple onsets
POA Manner
Transcription Gloss
a. Labial
glide fi˥
‘slowly’ b.
Coronal stop
t ɛ˥
‘dance’ c.
Coronal stop
ti˥ ‘burn’
d. Coronal
fricative su
ɛ˥ ‘hot’
e. Coronal
affricate ts︢u˥
‘say’ f.
Coronal nasal
ni˥khĩɛ̃ to feed
g. Dorsal
stop ko˥
‘how many?’ h.
Dorsal stop
ku˥ ‘and’
i. Glottal
fricative ho˥
‘two’ j.
Glottal fricative
hã˥ ‘three’
k. Glottal
stop ʔõ˥
‘five’ In 4 complex onsets are organized according to the clusters present which are grouped according to the
classifications that were described in §3.4.3 above. Recall that the complex onsets were divided into groups based on the phonemes involved. In 4 the ‘Type’ of onset refers to the following possibilities: S-
stopstop-stop, Contains ʔ, Contains h or Begins with N. Next the ‘Sub-type’ of the onset further
divides Contains ʔ and Contains h into categories based on whether or not the onset contains an
obstruent or a sonorant.
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4 High toned words with complex onsets
Type Sub-type
Example Gloss
a. S-stopstop-stop
ʃki˥ ‘whirlpool’
b. Contains
ʔ Obstruent
t ʃ︢ʔũĩ˥
‘chayote’
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c. Contains
ʔ Sonorant
ʔmi˥ ‘named’
d. Contains
ʔ Sonorant
ʔja˥ ‘who?’
e. Contains
ʔ Sonorant
ʔwɛ˥ ‘to plant’
f. Contains h
Obstruent ts︢hu˥
‘toasted’ g.
Contains h Obstruent
ts︢hũ˥ ‘kicks’
h. Contains h
Obstruent khĩ˥
‘many’ i.
Contains h Obstruent
kh ɛ̃˥
‘pull’ j.
Contains h Sonorant
hma˥ ‘black’
k. Begins with N
nda˥ ‘works’
In 3 and 4 there are representative examples of each onset type that occurs in Soyaltepec Mazatec. The only gaps in the data are the absence of a monosyllabic morpheme which begins with a
simple nasal and a stop-stop cluster. Neither of these gaps signifies a restriction. Notice that there are examples of complex onsets which contain nasals, i.e., nasals preceded by glottal consonants 4c, j and
nasals preceding stops 4k. There are also examples of multisyllabic words with syllables containing simple nasals that are articulated with a High tone 3f.
High tones are also independent of the type of nucleus of the syllable. Examining 3 and 4, examples can be found of words which contain each of the ten vowels:
• [i] - 3a, c, f, 4a, c
• [ĩ] - 4h
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A chayote is a type of vegetable sometimes called a ‘vegetable pear’.
174
• [
ɛ] - 3b, 4e •
[ ɛ̃] - 4i
• [a] - 4d, j, k
• [ã] - 3j
• [o] - 3g
• [õ] - 3k
• [u] - 3e, h, 4f
• [ũ] - 4g
There are also oral and nasal diphthongs which host High tones. Examples include: •
[u ɛ] – 3d
• [ũĩ] – 4b
High tones exist on monosyllabic morphemes of all consonant and vowel types. High tones also occur across several grammatical categories. Examples include:
• Nouns - 4a, b
• Verbs - 3b, c, e, 4c, e, g, i, k
• Adverbs - 3a
• Adjectives - 3d, 4f, j
• Quantifiers - 3i, j, k, 4h
• Question particles - 3g, 4d
• Connective particles - 3h
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The examples in 3 and 4 show that High tones exist on monosyllabic morphemes independent of segmental and grammatical categories. The High tone also exists on any syllable of multisyllabic
morphemes. Disyllabic words with High tone on the first syllable appear in 5. 5
High tone on first syllable of disyllabic words Soyaltepec Mazatec
Gloss Tone Pattern
a. ʃʔo˥thi˥
‘a dress’ H H
b. ngi˥ngu˦
‘other’ H M
1
c. ngi˥sa˧ ‘more’
H M
2
d. si˥hɛ̃˩
‘scented’ H L
The examples in 5 show that the High tone can appear on the first syllable of a disyllabic word followed by any of the other tonal primitives on the final syllable. The High tone can also exist on the final syllable
of words which begin with any of the other level tones 6. 6
The High tone on the final syllable of disyllabic words Soyaltepec Mazatec
Gloss Tone Pattern
a. ni˥khĩɛ̃˥
‘to feed’ H H
b. thi˦kũ˥ ‘alive’
M
1
H c.
na˧hmi˥ ‘thing’
M
2
H d. t
ʃ︢a˩ʔa˥ ‘armadillo’
L H The examples in 6 show that the High tone can occur on a disyllabic word after any of the tonemes. The
High tone can also occur in longer words. Recall that words beyond three syllables are very unusual when inflection and morphology are discounted, so I will limit the discussion here to trisyllabic words. The High
tone can occur on all three syllables 7a, the first two 7b, just the first 7c, just the second 7d, the second and third 7e or just the third syllable 7f.
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7 The High tone on trisyllabic words
Soyaltepec Mazatec Gloss
Tone Pattern
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a. ndi˥fa˥ti˥
‘petroleum’ H H H
b. thi˥ts︢i˥ʃa˦˥ ‘working’
H H M
1
-H c.
thi˥ts︢u˦ja˧ ‘explaining’
H M
1
M
2
d. ʔɛ˦ni˥ma˩ ‘indigenous language’ M
1
H L e. ʃi˧ne˥ts︢hu˥
‘fried pork rinds’ M
2
H H f
. te˧ɲu˧hũ˥ ‘fourteen’
M
2
M
2
H The High tone occurs on all of the syllables of monosyllabic words, disyllabic words and
trisyllabic words without regard for the characteristics of the segments present or the grammatical category of the morphemes.
4.2.4 Mid-high tone – M
